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Red Devils Move On With Shootout Victory Over DeSoto

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Avon Park girls soccer teammates celebrate at midfield after senior Alex Brock’s goal clinched the win in a shootout over DeSoto during Monday’s Class 4A-District 10 tournament game.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: January 16, 2008

PALMETTO — Very few times in a sporting career do you get a chance at redemption, but on a very cold Monday night, the Avon Park girls soccer team had an opportunity to erase a whole year's worth of "what-ifs" in an instant.

Those questions that arose from the ashes of No. 4 seed Avon Park's shootout loss to Braden River in last year's Class 4A-District 10 tournament were answered when senior Alex Brock's shot went high over Brittany Perez's head and sealed the 4-2 win over the No. 5 seed Bulldogs at Harllee Stadium.

With the win, Avon Park was scheduled to face the No. 1 seeded Palmetto Tigers on Tuesday.

Results were not available at press time. Full coverage will appear in Thursday's Highlands Today.

Brock was swarmed by her teammates and the Red Devils celebrated as one, seemingly wiping away the disappointment of last season's heartbreak.

"This was a little redemption for us," said AP senior Missy Lander. "We wanted this so bad. We've come together so much as a team and we couldn't let it end like this ... not like last year."

Avon Park sophomore goalie Kristaszia Allong, who has seen her share of ups and downs in her first season in goal for the Red Devils, came up huge in her first district tournament game, stopping three of four shots in the shootout and seven of eight shots during the game from the Bulldogs.

"I was so nervous going out for the shootout that I couldn't breathe," Allong said. "But once I blocked the first shot, that gave me the confidence to know I could do this."

During a shocking turn of events that left the scored tied after regulation and a pair of hotly contested overtime sessions, the Red Devils stood in a huddle and prayed before taking the field as one for the shootout.

DeSoto's Aileen Ariciaga — the Bulldogs' biggest offensive threat scorer of the Bulldogs' lone goal in regulation — was up first, blasting a shot to the right of Allong, who jabbed the ball away almost with ease.

After AP's Brenda Bellus' shot was blocked, Allong crouched in the middle of her net, facing off against DeSoto's Juana Vargas, but the result was the same — another block.

Allong's teammates knew that Allong put them in a position to win with her play in net and Lander's shot went passed Perez for the first goal of the shootout, but the Bulldogs responded with a goal by Kelsey Barnwell to even the score.

AP senior Julie Lamb stared down Perez in net before putting it past the Bulldog senior and a shot by DeSoto's Melissa Banuelos bounced off the crossbar to give Avon Park a chance to seal the victory.

Brock walked up to the ball with a calm confidence before seeing her shot hit nothing but net and feel the drench of praise from her teammates — a role reversal from last season where an exhausted Brock and the rest of the Red Devils were all tears and emotion after the loss to Braden River.

Avon Park head coach Greg Thacker was all smiles after the game and gave praise to her lady in goal.

"Krystasia was scared to death going out for the shootout," Thacker said. "She's improved by leaps and bounds from the beginning of the season. I told her to worry about the balls you can get and forget about the high ones.
"This was her night tonight."

Lander went a step further in her assessment of her goalie's performance.
"She's the reason we won," the AP senior said.
The storybook ending almost was not to be.

With less than two minutes to play in the game and Avon Park down 1-0, Lander grabbed a Lamb pass and wove through a pair of DeSoto defenders and let a shot go just inside the goalie box.
Seconds later, a whistle blared — Bulldog handball.

That put Lander in the box for the penalty kick with the Red Devils' season on the line, but the senior came through in the clutch with shot in the upper right corner to tie the game.

DeSoto responded with a bull rush to the goal and Ariciaga, who scored five minutes into the game, got a shot off that had a chance, but Allong made a diving save and moments later the game was going into overtime, which was a physical stalemate.

But the night belonged to Allong, who made the plays when her team needed her the most.

"I couldn't let my team down," the AP goalie said. "They had my back when they made the goals, so I had to step up and do my part."

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